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Small Changes for a Better Future - Part 2

Posted by James Astuhuaman on 25 February 2016

GROWING COFFEE IN A MORE SUSTAINABLE WAY AT SAN JUAN DEL ORO, PERU

Don Clemente tells us about the farming practices that he has been able to improve as he walks us around his organic coffee parcela. We see the newly planted trees; the spring for fresh, clean water; and the coffee growing under the shade of trees, many laden with different fruits. It reflects all the hard work he has put in over recent months. We observe the recovering coffee plants after the leaf rust crisis and the coffee flowers that promise a better harvest for next season.

‘I have participated on field trips enthusiastically and I've shared many experiences with others. With this knowledge, I can improve practices on the farm. With the last Fondo Empleo (Employment Fund) project I received more training and then I felt more commitment and enthusiasm to keep working on the farm. I don't think I'll leave the farm anymore or move to the city. Now I’m very happy living on the farm and to live side by side with the plants. I am pleased about this work. My dream is to manage the coffee in a way that makes it as productive as other coffee regions such a Satipo or Villa Rica in the middle jungle. I know I’m old but even at my age I want to achieve that.'

Don Clemente shows us other improvements he has made to his coffee processing: the rubber pipes to transport water; the new tanks to store water during the dry season and the waste water treatment holes.

Once back at the house, Doña Simona appears with glasses of freshly-squeezed orange juice, fresh from the trees on the farm, to share with us.

Clemente Tucpo Ccoa is a member of San Juan del Oro coffee cooperative in southeastern Peru, close to the Bolivian border.